Arguing that Andhra Pradesh eminently qualifies for establishment of a separate railway zone, former Minister Konathala Ramakrishna wrote a letter to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu to take steps for creating a separate railway zone with headquarters in Waltair-Visakhapatnam.
Smaller states like Chattisgarh and Jharkhand have their own railway zones and the BJP-led NDA had created six new zones in 1998. According to the norms a railway line of 600 km is required for a State to be declared a railway zone. The then NDA relaxed the norms as Chattisgarh had only 292 km of railway line and Jharkhand had 411 km, Mr Ramakrishna wrote.
Visakhapatnam division (Waltair Division) alone in bifurcated AP has 1,052 km of railway line and stands 4 in generation of revenue in the entire country. In the East Coast railway the total revenue in 2015-16 was Rs 15,978.28 crore and nearly half – Rs 7,034.58 crore – came from Waltair Division. On an average 8.8 rakes of iron ore ply daily between Kothavalasa and Kirandol.
Visakhapatnam (Waltair) has 782 acres of Railway land apart from infrastructure like Railway Hospital, railway quarters and officers club, while the existing norms require only 200 acres.
Further, there could no better eco-system for a new Railway Zone than Visakhapatnam in the entire country. It has the Visakhapatnam Port, the Gangavaram Port and it is the headquarters of the Indian Navy’s premier operational command – Eastern Naval Command. There are several premier public sector units like the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, BDL, Hindustan Zinc, Food Corporation of India, Gas Authority of India, our greatest pride Visakhpatnam Steel Plant and the Steel Authority of India, all of them are major customers of Railway. The city stands at the beginning of the Vizag-Chennai industrial corridor.
The people here are anxiously waiting for the new Railway Zone for catalyzing economic development. The hope is giving way to widespread unrest in the Uttarandhra region with the people fearing that their rightful share in economic development is being snatched from their mouths, Mr Ramakrishna wrote to Suresh Prabhu.
